something clicked into place and it became very, very obvious that I was watching something where the director/screenwriter (Wolfgang Petersen, also the director of Das Boot) was a German born during WWII, adapting a book by a German author/screenwriter (Michael Ende) who was also a kid during WWII

Oh, that's really interesting, and now that I see it written, quite obvious. But not something I ever considered when I read the book aged 12ish.

I love how the more we learn about the world, and particular parts of history, the better we understand art that we already enjoyed.